170: Chapter 170 The Fifth Life, Martial Path Illuminated by the Blazing Sun (118th Chapter)

Time passed minute by minute.

One by one, people finished absorbing the maximum amount of mist they could bear, opened their eyes, and stood up, looking around with expressions of either surprise or regret.

After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Chu Shi slowly opened his eyes.

The True Qi within his body surged slightly, and he felt filled with power throughout his entire body.

His gaze swept across the area; there were very few people left sitting cross-legged.

"Senior Brother Chu!"

Chen Lingxi was the first to approach, her large eyes filled with curiosity. "How many strands of mist did you refine?"

Xiao Weizhao and Princess Xiao Yunyao also walked over, their faces similarly wearing expressions of anticipation.

Chu Shi smiled and did not hide it: "49 strands."

"Wow!"

Chen Lingxi couldn't help but exclaim, then muttered somewhat dejectedly.

"That's amazing. I only refined 32 strands, which is only a 3.2 times acceleration."

"I only refined 39 strands." Princess Xiao Yunyao stuck out her tongue and looked at her sister beside her. "Sister is still more impressive; she refined 41 strands."

Xiao Weizhao shook her head gently, her gaze towards Chu Shi carrying a hint of admiration:

"Senior Brother Chu is the truly impressive one. We royal descendants have used various Heaven And Earth Treasures to temper our Foundation since childhood, yet we still cannot compare to you."

Chu Shi's heart stirred slightly.

As expected, these people from the royal branch's princely estates truly have a deep Foundation.

Ordinary Disciples who can refine over twenty strands are already considered gifted, yet the two princesses easily reached around forty strands, showing just how solid their Foundation is.

He glanced calmly at Chen Lingxi beside him. Although a flicker of envy flashed in the young girl's eyes, her expression remained open, without a shred of jealousy or self-pity.

Chu Shi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

As expected of the Bloodline descendants he left behind in his third life.

The ancestral teachings of the Chen family he personally established back then taught descendants to be diligent and steady, to avoid arrogance and impatience; it seems that after so many years, the Chen family's traditions remain upright.

It is just that the Chen family's rise has been too short, only a little over a hundred years; in terms of overall Bloodline optimization, they truly cannot compare to the royal family, which has a Legacy spanning thousands of years.

That Chen Lingxi could achieve what she has today has already far exceeded his expectations.

"Hahaha! What are you all chatting about so lively?"

A flamboyant voice suddenly rang out. Ling Chen stretched lazily, his joints popping with crisp sounds, and walked over with a smug look on his face.

He leaned in close to Chu Shi and raised his eyebrows cheekily. "Brother Chu, Brother Chu, do you want to know how many strands I refined?"

Looking at his expression, which was practically screaming "Ask me, ask me," Chu Shi turned his head away in disgust, too lazy to pay him any mind.

Ling Chen was snubbed, but he wasn't annoyed at all.

Ever since the entrance trial, he had been suppressed by Chu Shi, serving as the eternal second place for so long.

Now, he had finally surpassed Chu Shi in one thing, and with Princess Xiao Yunyao watching from the side, he felt like he was floating on air.

He cleared his throat, deliberately raised his volume, and said, enunciating every word: "52 strands! I refined a full 52 strands! How about that, impressive, right?"

After speaking, he clasped his hands behind his back, lifted his chin slightly, and struck a pose of "the loneliness of an expert."

However, the corner of his eye was secretly glancing at Princess Xiao Yunyao, expecting her praise.

Chu Shi slanted a glance at him and couldn't help but retort: "You, with your dignified Earth-rank aptitude, only refined three more strands than me; what is there to be smug about?"

"What's wrong with three strands?" Ling Chen, seeing Chu Shi tearing down his act, immediately retorted.

"Three strands means 30% more speed! In a year, I can Cultivate for more than three months longer than you! You're just jealous!"

Afterwards, he waved his hand grandly, acting as if he were magnanimous: "Forget it, I'm in a good mood today, I won't lower myself to your level."

After saying that, he immediately put on an ingratiating smile and trotted over to Princess Xiao Yunyao, starting to make small talk:

"Princess Yunyao, look at how green the grass is outside; shall we go for a stroll together later?"

Chu Shi shook his head helplessly.

This guy really shines given a little sunshine.

However, it did give him confidence; he actually dared to go and chat up a princess directly.

He stopped paying attention to the farce over there, turned to look at Chen Lingxi, and continued to ask: "Junior Sister Chen, how should we proceed? Should we just Cultivate here?"

"Yes, it's best to Cultivate right here." Chen Lingxi nodded, a hint of helplessness appearing on her face.

"You can take the metal Materials on the plaza as you please; take as much as you need. When you're hungry or lack blood energy, just pull a handful of the grass on the lawn outside; those are special nourishing Spiritual Plants, and their effects are even better than ordinary Medicinal Pills outside."

Afterwards, she paused and lowered her voice: "As for exploring further out, I advise that we not go for now. We are all only in the Early Stage of the Copper Bone Realm, while many of the Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters from previous years are in the Middle Stage or even Late Stage of the Copper Bone Realm."

"Although the Secret Realm rules state that one cannot kill, fighting is inevitable when competing for Heaven And Earth Treasures. Getting slightly injured is a minor matter, but if one gets severely injured and triggers the Secret Realm's protection mechanism, being directly teleported out would mean completely wasting the Opportunity of these two years."

Chen Lingxi sighed. "Rather than going out and taking risks, it's better to Cultivate here with peace of mind first, and wait until our cultivation has improved a bit."

Hearing this, Chu Shi also sighed heavily; it was indeed so.

Although he had confidence in his combat power, he had only broken through for three months after all, and had only tempered five bones.

Plus, apart from the few of them who had connections, the remaining Disciples from various parties who managed to get a spot had basically fought their way there for real.

He did not have absolute certainty that he could compete with these people across Realms.

Shaking his head, Chu Shi stopped letting his thoughts wander.

He turned and walked to a pile of pure copper ingots as tall as a person nearby, reached out to pat the cold, solid copper surface, and immediately felt the tactile sensation of warm, mellow Qi from his fingertips.

He sat down as he was, his back leaning against the heavy copper mountain, and his whole body relaxed a bit.

"Let's first test the power of this time acceleration."

Chu Shi took a deep breath, composed his mind, and slowly began to circulate the "Blazing Sun Body Casting Method."

In an instant, the gold Qi that had been slowly flowing in the air seemed to be under an invisible attraction, and it instantly boiled.

Countless golden specks of light converged into a stream, rushing madly toward his body.

With each breath he took, pure gold Qi went straight into his Dantian; it almost didn't need any refining before it automatically transformed into scorching Blazing Sun True Qi, flowing happily through his Meridians.

In just a few breaths, the True Qi in his Dantian had filled up a bit.

Chu Shi was slightly startled, then suppressed his distracting thoughts, guiding the surging True Qi to flow towards the un-tempered mortal bone in his right arm.

The red-gold True Qi was like a tide, washing over the pale, hard bone again and again.

The originally cold and lifeless bone, under the repeated infusion of True Qi, gradually began to take on a faint copper-red hue.

Each washing could carry away a trace of Impurities from the bone, making it become tougher and heavier.